Stormers get thunderstruck

The Stormers unveiled their home and away kit for the 2014 season at a launch event held at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Thursday.

The Stormers unveiled their home and away kit for the 2014 season at a launch event held at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on Thursday.

Three teams of “Storm Chasers” - made up of a Stormers player, media personality and a Super Fan - raced around Cape Town looking for clues to help them complete challenges akin to The Amazing Race, in order to reveal the 2014 kits.

Once all of the clues were uncovered, the three teams – captained by Jean de Villiers, Juan de Jongh and Siya Kolisi – raced to the finish line at the V&A Waterfont, where they entered their answers into a large safe,

which once unlocked, revealed Siyabonga “Scarra” Ntubeni and Duane Vermeulen standing fully-clad in the new home and away kits.

Afterwards, the three captains along with Ntubeni and Vermeulen, as well as Frans Malherbe, Gio Aplon and coach Allister Coetzee, held an autograph signing session and posed for photos with loyal Stormers fans that had come to get a glimpse of the new kit.

The new Stormers home jersey retains the collegiate royal blue and white colours, which was introduced in last season’s edition so as to bring the jersey in line with the traditional colour and hoops design of the Western Province jersey.

However, this season sees a chevron pattern being incorporated into the front of the jersey’s design, adding an exciting, new element to the hoop effect.

One of the most notable changes to recent editions comes in the away jersey, which has moved away from the traditional white and blue inverted colour variant.

Instead, the plain white jersey is starkly contrasted on the front by the introduction of a large royal blue and red lightning symbol – a design element taken from the Stormers’ logo.

Other design elements incorporated into the two new jersey designs include a red insert on the inside of the home jersey collar and blue on the away jersey, both of which add a subtle and visually appealing dash of contrasting colour.

Furthermore, the iconic three stripes of the team’s technical sponsor run along the back shoulder of the jersey and are thicker than in previous versions.

Stormers captain Jean de Villiers commented: “I hope and trust that our fans will take to both jerseys and we look forward to being able to represent this proud franchise in our new strips next season.”

“Our home jersey continues to reflect the traditional colour and hoops of Western Province, whereas the new away jersey has moved away from our more traditional look and should be a great hit with our loyal supporters,” stated Western Province Rugby Union CEO Rob Wagner.

The new home and away jerseys are now available at many sports retailers countrywide at a recommended retail price of R699.